High-speed carrying means for card counting machines



Feb. 25, 1941.

, zzssasz N, s. \(VELK HIGH SPEED CARRYING MEANS FOR CARD COUNTING MACHINES Original Filed July 26, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 B Ala/.50 5. WEAK cv ATTORNEY N. s. WELK Feb. 25, 1941.

HIGH-SPEED CARRYING MEANS FOR CARD COUNTING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed July 26, 1939 EZZZIII: x l

use/v 51.x M a ATTORNEX Feb. 25, 1941. N. s. WELK 2,233,152

HIGH-SPEED CARRYING KEANS FOR, CARD COUNTING MACHINES Original Filed July 26, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 3' mil [III II H II III [I ll II II lnlll INVENTOR. /V1.50N 5. WLK

A TTORNE) Feb. 25, 1941. N. s. WE-ZLK 2233.152

HIGH-SPEED CARRYING MEANS FOR cm coumrme mourn-as ozfiginal Filed July 26, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. lVasmv 5. WELK 54 &

QMK a) I Q I Arron/v57 Patented F eb. 25, 1941 HIGH-SPEED CARRYING MEANS FOR CAR COUNTING MACHINES r Nelson S. Wells, Athens, Ohio, assignor to The- McBee Company, Athens, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Original application July 26, 1939, Serial No. 286,570. Divided and this application April 2,

1940, Serial N0. 327,417

10 (llaima- ((1271-51) My invention relates more particularly to that class of machines which are designed to count record cards, checks, coupons and the like such as is described in my copending application, Serial j No. 286,570, of which this application is a division.

Commercial machines of this type are generally too slow to be desirable and when speeded up they become inaccurate; This is due to the type of devices employed to carry or convey the cards to be counted to and from the counting mechanism.

In my invention I provide a number of pairs of rollers which I term wringer rolls, for the reason they are in pairs, only one of which is driven and they squeeze the cards between them. These rollsaredriven at high speed.

The principal object of my invention is to provide high speed means to carry cards from the feeding device through the counting mechanism and deliver them in sequential arrangement.

A further object is to provide two sets of high speed conveying means to rotate at difierent speeds.

A further object is to provide for slight slippage of the cards between the first set of high speed conveying means.

My means of accomplishing the foregoing objects may be more fully comprehended by having reference to the accompanying drawings which are hereunto annexed and are a part of this specification in whichz 4 Fig. l is a side elevation view of my high speed card carrying means with parts of the machine being 'broken' away and shown in section for clarity; 3

Fig. 2 is a top or plan view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view showing the first set of wringer rolls and their adjusting 40 means taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view showing the second set of wringer rolls and counter taken on the line 44 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direc-. tion of the arrows; I

Figs. 5 and 6 are elevational and top plan detail views respectively, of the upper wringer roll of the second set of wringer rolls, the plan view being partly in section; and 50 Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view showing the operation I of feeding the cards, etc. Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the entire specification. g

In machines of this type, a feeder is provided adapted to receive a stack of cards C which rest upon feed rollers and are held in position. by means of locating plates.

Adjacent to and in the rear of the main feeding roll 5, I locate a roller 2, which I have found in practice should be made of steel. Above this 5 roller 2 I 'mount a shaft 3 which carries a plurality of spaced rolls 3 which are preferably made of hard rubber or a similar substance. Ihe roll 2 is mounted upon-the shaft 2'. Means to insure a close contact between the surface 1 of these wringer rolls 2 and 3 is provided by means of coil compression springs 5 and 5' which exert a pressure upon bearings 6 and 6 in which revolve the shafts 2' and 3 which carrythe rolls w coil compression springs 5 and 5'. These plungers provide an enlarged surface at the top for contact with the adjusting screws 8 and 8' which are threaded into blocks 9 and 9, which span the gap cut in the side plates to permit the insertion 25 of the bearings 6 and 6'. These blocks may be secured in place in any suitable or convenient manner. As shown, they are held by means of screws 10 and i0.

The shaft 2 which carries thelower wringer 30 roll 2 has a spur pinion i i mounted onits extreme right hand end- This pinion is rotated by an idler gear l2 which revolves on a stud l3 fastened to the right side panel by means of a nut'in the conventional manner which is so Well under- 35 stood so as not to require specific description. The idler gear 52 in turn is driven by a gear connected to the main drive (not shown). In front of the wringer rolls 2 and3 I mount a cross bar I4 to which is secured a counting device 40 I5 of standard construction. This counting device is a commercial product which is familiar to those skilled inthe art and for that reason I shall not describe its construction.

I remove themetal finger, which is usually provided on such a counting device, and which is'generally attached to the lower shaft of the counter. In the place of the metal finger I mount a three-legged paddle wheel "5- the legs of which terminate in feet which are shaped as shown in the drawings. The feet are adapted to contact the edge of the card as it passes through the machine. At the rear of the counting device I5 I mount asecond set of pairs of wringer rolls I1 and I8. I have found it desir- .55

able to construct the lower one i! of this set of rolls of a medium soft rubber as that has been found most satisfactory in practice. It may be provided with a steel core or shaft l1, the ends of which are fitted into bearings in the side panels.

On the right hand end of the core or shaft I1 I mount a spur pinion IS, the teeth of which mesh with the gear l2 and is rotated thereby. The upperwringer rolls l8 of this set are clearly seen in the detail views, Figs. 5 and 6, as shown there are four of them, preferably made of steel. These rolls l8 are preferably mounted on roller or ball bearings, which are carried by studs 20. The anti-friction bearings are necessary due to the high speed at which they rotate. In Fig. 6,

, I have shown one of the wringer rolls ill in section to show the stud 20 upon which it revolves. As the construction of each of these wringer rolls is identical, I shall only describe one of them.

. The stud 20 on which the upper wringer rolls la of this set revolve, is threaded or suitably pressed into a swinging arm 2|. Means for reg-.-

ulating the friction betweenthese rolls l8 and her areplaced on a flat surface and the lower roll I! is provided by fiat springs 22, which are preferably secured to the under side of a collar 23,'by means of screws or any other suitable manner. secured to a bushing 24 by a press fit. After the desired pressure upon roller l8. exerted by the spring 22 has been found to be correct, the bushing 24 is locked tothe cross bar H by set screw 24. The swinging arm 2| is free to rotate on bushing. The cross bar l4 ispreferably supported at its ends in the side .panels. apparent by rotating the'bushing 24 upon the cross bar I4, the tension of the flat springs 22 can be regulated;

The operation A stack of cards of approximately 500 in num- HJ'OggedSI, un til,their edgesare even. The cards are jogged preferably when held at an angle to their face, thus providing a bevelled arrangement for loading onto the inclined surface of the card support.

Locating plates are then, adjusted on a cross rod to suit the width of the cards which are to be counted. When this adjustment is made, the locating plates are retained in their position by means of set screws.

' The machine is now ready to begin the counting operation. The motor is started and'through the medium of the belt, pulleys and trains of gears, the various rotating parts are revolved;

The frictional contact against the surface of the feed roll which is usually made of rubber, on the bottom card of the stack of cards, will cause the bottom card to be fed rearwardly.

As the cards are fed from the bottom at a rate which is as high as 50,000 an hour for small cards, the separation of one card from another longitudinally is only slightly more than the thickness of the cards, due to the fact that the one next to the bottom card is given motion just as soon as it is exposed by the'movement of the bottom card. As the bottom card is fed rearwardly by the feed roller, its edge is caught between the first set of wringer rolls 2 and 3 which carries it rearwardly rapidly causing its edge to.

a horizontal position. I prevent this by the down- The collar 23 is preferably It will beward inclination of a hold-down plate. Thisinclination also prevents the cards from riding upwards. 1

The card now is caught between the second set of wringer rolls l1 and I8 which are preferably located'about of an inch below the first set, these rolls again cause the card toassume a horizontal position as soon as it is released from the first set of 'wringer rolls.

Each pair of the wringer rolls l1 and IB are revolved at a higher rate of speed than the wringer rolls 2 and 3. .This speed should be willcient to advance the cards approximately of an inch, this being permitted by the slippage between the upper wringer roll 3 and the lower one 2, thus insuring clearance between the counted card and the card following.

From this point the cards are deposited upon a suitable conveyor as clearly describedin the said copending application, Serial No. 286,570

tions before referred to, and that regardless of the speed at which the machine is operated,

' there will be noinaccurate counting. In practice, I have found the machine will correctly count up to 50,000 per hour correctly and deposit the cards in numerical sequence on the Although I have described with sqmedegree of particularity, a preferred construction, I do not desire to be understood as limiting myself thereby, as this description is furnished solely to illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention, as many mechanical changes will suggest themselves in manufacturing my device, and I do conveyor.

will be clear from the foregoing description not wish to be limited, except as such limitations may appear in the hereinafter contained claims. Having described my invention, what I regard as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a card counting machine having an adjustable card support, an adjustable caliper, a

main feedroll, the plane of feed of said roll'beinghorizontal, two sets of rolls, a counting mechanism intermediate said sets of rolls and means. to rotate the lower rolls; the

of the upper surface of the main feed roll, the

plane of feed of the first set of rolls being paralto rotate the lower rolls; the point of contact of the first set of rolls being located below the plane of the upper surface of the main feed roll, the point of contact of the rear set of rolls being located on a lower plane than the first set, the planes of the axis of the pairs of rolls being parallel to feed in planes parallel to the planeof feed of the main feed roll, whereby a' card enterin'g between them is caused to snap downwardly thus clearing the next succeeding card beingfed. '3. In a card counting machine having an adiustable card support, an adjustable caliper, a

main feed roll, the planeof feed of said roll being horizontal, two sets of rolls, a counting mechanism intermediate said sets of rolls and means to rotate the. lower rolls;' the point of point of contact of I the first set of rolls being located below the plane contact of the first set of rolls being located below the plane of the upper surface of the main feed roll, the point of contact of the rear set of rolls being located on a lower plane than the first .set, the planes of the axis of the pairs of rolls being parallel to feed in planes parallel to the plane of feed of the main feed roll; whereby a card entering between them is caused to snap downwardly thus clearing the next succeeding card being fed, and means to rotate the rear set of rolls at a higher rate of speed than the front set.

4. In a card counting machine having an adjustable card support, an adjustable caliper, a main feed roll, the plane'of feed of said roll being horizontal, two sets of rolls, a counting mechanism intermediate said sets of rolls and means to rotate the lower rolls; the point of contact of the first set of rolls being located below the plane of the upper surface of the main feed roll, the planes of the axis of the pairs of rolls being parallel to feed in planes parallel to the plane of feed of the main feed roll, whereby a card ontering between them is caused to snap downwardly thus clearing the next succeeding card being fed, means to continuously rotate one of the lower rolls ata higher rate of speed than the other roll.

5. In a card counting machine having an ad justable card support, an adjustable caliper, a

7 rolls thereon the surfaces of which contact said main feed roll, a counting mechanism, a shaft which extends across said machine in front of said counting mechanism; a roll having a continuous surface carried thereby, a second shaft above the first named shaft, spaced rolls thereon the surfaces of which contact said roll,'a shaft which extends across said machine in the rear of said counting mechanism, a roll having a continuous surface carried thereby, individual studs,

above said last named shaft, individual rolls carried thereby the surfaces of which contact said last named roll, means to rotate the shaft on which the lower rolls are mounted, and means to rotate one 01' said shafts at a higher rate of speed than the other.

6. In a card counting machine having an adjustable card support, an adjustable caliper, a main feed roll, two sets of rolls, a counting mechanism intermediate said sets of rolls and means to rotate the lower rolls; the point of contact of the first set of rolls being located below the plane of the upper surface of the main feed roll, the point of contact of the rear set of rolls being located on a lower plane than the first set, whereby a card entering between them is caused to snap downwardly thus clearingthe next succeeding card being fed, the front set of rolls com prising a shaft which extends across said machine in front of said counting mechanism, a roll having a continuous surface carried thereby, a second shaft above the first named shaft, spaced roll, a shaft which extends across said machine in the rear of said counting mechanism, a roll having a continuous surface carried thereby, individual studs above said last named shaft, and individual .rolls carried thereby thesurfaces of which contact said last named roll.

'7. In a card counting machine having an adjustable card support, an adjustable caliper, a

jmain feed roll, two sets of rolls, a counting mecli-- anism intermediate said sets of rolls and means to rotate the lower rolls; the point of contact of the first set'of rolls being located below the plane of the upper surface of the main feed roll, the point of contact of the rear set of rolls being 3 located on a lower plane than the first set, where; by a card entering between them is caused to snapdownwardly thus clearing the next succeeding card being fed, the front set of rolls oomprising a shaft which extends across said machine in front of said counting mechanism, a roll having a continuous surface carried thereby,

a second shaft above the-first named shaft, spaced rolls thereon the surfaces of which contact said roll, a shaft which extends across said machine in the rear of said counting mechanism, a rollha'rlng a continuous surface carried thereby, individual studs above said last named shaft, individual rolls carried thereby the surfaces of which contact said last named roll, and antifriction bearings on which said individual rolls rotate.

8. In a card counting machine having an adjustable card support, an adjustable caliper, a

main feed rol1,-two sets of rolls, a counting mechanism intermediate saidv sets of rolls and means to rotate the lower rolls; the point of contact of the first set of rolls being located below the plane of the upper surface of the main feed roll, the point of contact of the rear set of rolls being located on a lower plane than the first set, whereby a card entering between them is caused to snap downwardly thus clearing the next succeeding card being fed, the front set of rolls comprising a shaft which extends across said machine in front of said counting mechanism, a roll having a continuous surface carried thereby, a

second'shaft above the first named shaft, spaced rolls thereon the surfaces of which contact said roll, a shaft which extends across said machine in the rear of said countingmechanism, a roll having a continuous surface carried 'thereby, individual studs above said last named shaft, individual rolls carried thereby the surfaces of which contact said last named roll, anti-friction hearings on which said individual rolls rotate, and means to continuously rotate the rear'set of rolls at a higher rate of speed than the other rolls.

9. In a card counting machine having an ad- Justable card support, an adjustable caliper, a main feed roll, a counting mechanism, a vshaft which extends across said machine in front of said counting mechanism; a roll having a continuous surface carried thereby; a second shaft above the first named shaft, spaced rolls thereon the surfaces of which contact said roll, a shaft which extends across said machine in the rear of said counting mechanism, a roll having a continuous surface carried thereby, individual studs above said last named shaft, individual rolls carried thereby the surfaces of which contact said last named roll, means to rotate the shafts on which the lower rolls are mounted, means to rotate one of said shafts at a higher rate of speed tinuous surface carried thereby. a second shaft above the first named shaft, spaced rolls thereon the surfaces of which contact said roll, a shaft which extends acrosssaid machine in the rear of said counting mechanism, a roll having a conlast named roll, means to rotate the shafts on which the lower rolls are mounted, means to rotate oneoof said shafts at a higher rate of speed than the other, a cross bar, arms in which said studs are'mounted; means to swingingiy mount said arms on said cross bar, bushings rotatable on said cross bar, springs the outer ends of which bear on said studs, means to permit the tension of said springs to be varied and means to lock said last named means, the point of contact of the front set of rolls being located below the plane -of the upper surface of the main feed roll, the

point of contact of the rear set of rolls being located on a lower plane than the first set, whereby a card entering between them is caused to snap downwardly clearing the card following.

NELSON S. WELK. 

